Senedd history made as Welsh Bill passed

THE first Welsh Bill passed under the National Assembly's new legislative powers will receive Royal Assent today in an historic ceremony in Cardiff.

The National Assembly for Wales (Official Languages) Bill became law when the First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, applied the Welsh Seal to the letters patent, which were signed with Her Majesty's own hand to signify Her Assent, and notified to the Clerk of the National Assembly.

Mr Jones, who is also Keeper of the Welsh Seal, said: "When the people of Wales voted in last year's referendum to grant primary law- making powers to the National Assembly, I said Wales is an old country, but a young democracy.

"Today is a historic day for us as a nation. It heralds the beginning of a new era for the Governance of Wales."

Presiding Officer of the National Assembly, Rosemary Buttler AM, said: "Today, the first ever Act of the National Assembly for Wales receives Royal Assent.

"How fitting it is that our first Act as a full law-making body will confer equal status on the Welsh and English languages in Assembly proceedings."

maxmin the turn little englanders is not racist at all. And it's not directed towards just the English, it can be used towards the Welsh as well. We all know the kind of Welsh person i'm talking about, the letters pages on here are full of them. BTW what's all this nonsense your spouting about racism, i thought you worshiped the extreme right wing. Come on now maxminny u can have it both way's. My advice to u is to chill out and look for the good in everyone , something little englanders(welsh ones included) find very hard to do.

The obsession over the Welsh Translation cost's by some on here is laughable. The very word bilingual suggests something to do with TWO languages so any perceived cost of bilingualism should, surely, be shared between BOTH languages. A monolingual transcript of Assembly proceedings, in either language, would have a price tag attached. So how much of the £400K bilingual cost in money is actually being spent on JUST the Welsh Language? Does English come free of charge? the answer to that is no! people seem not to question the cost and the extraordinary price of the Olympics & Jubilee to the Welsh taxpayer but gleeful attacks the cost of Welsh translation 400k spent on translators, 1.3bn spent on the Jubilee… enough said on that and the London 2012 Olympics A Games that is supposed to have come in "under budget" – it's just that the budget was repeatedly raised to get to £9.3bn. Whether that is a reliable estimate of the total cost is also open to debate, with some suggesting the real figure is £25bn .so when people talk about costs to welsh taxpayers you only need look at the 1.3bn spent on the Jubilee and £9.3bn. Spent on the London 2012 Olympics and then compare that to the peanuts spent on bilingual translation it speaks for itself I rest my case!.

maxmin, little englander is not racist or derogatory. It refers more to a mindset than a race, clour or creed. it's no more racist than the words nationalist, Eurosceptic or Europhile.
Why do some people have to see racism/problems/insults everywhere.
And jerrylew, the cut and paste issue, what's wrong with it? Do you think it's cleverer to waste your time typing everything when cut and paste is quicker, easier and more accurate?
People should try arguing the facts and stop trying to belittle people, especially when it actually makes them look the dafter of the two.

Yes Gwyddno we can all access Wikipedia, however that is not the point. The term is now used as a derogatory term for English people. Just like the terms used to describe African people are now considered racist. I just wonder why Neathboy CLM cannot seem to make a comment without using this derogatory epithet. How would he like it if the Welsh were constantly referred to as 'mini *****'s'

"2011 Referendum - 63% voted for these changes with 37% against. – this was based on a 37% turnout! Pathetic. Thats a 23% "majority". Yes we can say that if you do not vote you can not have a voice – but then again does the lack of interest not count? No referendum with under a 50% turnout has any credibility. Actually it should be higher than this to mean anything.
Anyway has the time taken to pass this Royal Assent created extra jobs? – NO. Has this created extra inward investment? – NO.
What positive financial benefit has it made to Wales?
On another topic re the doctors – lets hope the people involved used Cardiff Airport to get to Spain and Dubai – bet they went via Bristol!!"